Josh Stein: What Republicans are doing to democracy in NC keeps me up at night | Opinion

Today may seem like an average fall Sunday. You may start your day at church or with a family breakfast. You may be planning to rake leaves or prepare for a day of football or the week ahead. But from my perspective, this Sunday is anything but typical — because we’re exactly one year out from the 2024 election.

One year from today, millions of voters will turn out across the state to cast their ballots. There will be elections for offices up and down the ballot, from the president and governor to state legislators and county commissioners. But more than candidates, democracy itself will be on the ballot.

In our democracy, the people are supposed to possess all the political power. After all, our government derives its powers from the consent of the governed.

But right now, there are right-wing politicians in Raleigh taking a sledgehammer to our democracy to cling to power. They pass hyper-gerrymandered redistricting maps that discriminate against voters for their political beliefs and diminish the value of their votes. They make it harder for people to vote early or by mail, and they are usurping the executive branch’s authority to administer elections with potentially frightening consequences.

They still deny the 2020 election results and promote conspiracy theories, sowing doubt and chaos about voting and our elections. They inject partisanship into our courts, seeking to stack the deck against citizens who challenge the constitutionality of the laws they pass. And they try to intimidate judges who stand up for the rule of law.

The Republican legislative supermajority is destroying our system of checks and balances. Instead of three branches of government, the legislators evidently want only one — themselves. They don’t want voters to be able to hold them accountable. Their power grabs are fundamentally un-American and wrong.

They keep me up at night and get me up in the morning to push back. These barriers are about discouraging folks from heading to the polls and damaging our faith in our elections. Their schemes serve to alienate voters from the political process. Yet faith in our democracy is what keeps our whole system afloat.

As your attorney general, maintaining that faith is exactly what I’ve been fighting for. When then-Gov. Pat McCrory petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate North Carolina’s monster anti-voter law, which the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals had struck down for targeting African Americans with “almost surgical precision,” I put a stop to it because the state of North Carolina should be about protecting people’s right to vote, not restricting it.

When the General Assembly urged the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt the radical, novel “Independent State Legislature” theory, my office successfully persuaded the justices that people, not politicians, possess political power in North Carolina. The legislature cannot simply ignore the will of the people as expressed in our state constitution. Standing up for democracy and against discrimination is always the right thing to do.

The people of our state deserve an independent redistricting commission to draw fair maps so that voters choose their representatives, not the other way around. And we need to return to nonpartisan judicial races to keep politics out of the courtroom.

Next year’s election is critical to our state’s future. We must ask ourselves: will we march forward together or be dragged backward? Fight to reclaim our political power or watch an unchecked and extreme legislature continue to take it from us?

I am still hopeful for North Carolina. Last month I met with over a thousand voters — from across the state, of various backgrounds, ages and priorities. And they all believe in North Carolina. They believe we can make a difference by using our voice and casting our vote.

My challenge to you today — one year out from the 2024 election — is to keep the faith. Keep your hope. Keep demanding your elected representatives stand for democracy. Keep organizing. Keep voting. Because some things are worth fighting for, no matter how tough it is. And yes, things in North Carolina right now are tough. But the people of North Carolina are worth fighting for. Our democracy is worth fighting for.

So let’s do it. Let’s get to work. And together, let’s build a better and brighter future for North Carolina.

Josh Stein, a Democrat, is North Carolina’s Attorney General and a 2024 candidate for governor.